Succulents and More™

I haven’t done a proper tour of our own garden in a while. Time to fix that. This post shows the front yard at the end of October 2026. I’ll have a tour of the backyard in due time. Look at this Google satellite photo of our property to get your bearing. The tour starts at the far end of the L-shaped sidewalk bed (on the right in the photo below) and then continues in the direction of the arrow: ↷ Our property ends (or begins) at the communal mailboxes on the right: ↷ The apple-green aloe is Aloe vaombe × spectabilis : ↷ The tall orange-red aloe is Aloe ‘Erik the Red’. It's stressed because it didn't receive much water over the summer. As we head into the cool and rainy season, the leaves will turn green and plump up. ↷ The silver leaves belong to Eucalyptus macrocarpa , a mallee (tall shrub with multiple trunks) from Western Australia where it’s commonly known as “mottlecah” or “rose of the west:” ↷ On the right is Agave ovatifolia , in the middle Yucca rostrata : ↷ To...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago , Kyle and will have a plant sale on Halloween to make room for — you guessed it — more plants. Both of us are passionate about propagation so we’re always making more. We just can’t help ourselves. K & G The sale will be at our friend Eric’s property in West Sacramento, and it will coincide with Eric’s open garden for the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (SCSS). You don’t have to be a member of the SCSS to see Eric’s garden or come to our sale. WHAT: Kyle and Gerhard’s plant sale Eric’s open garden WHEN: Saturday, October 31, 2026 10 am to 2 pm WHERE: West Sacramento ( email me for address) I blogged about Eric’s place earlier in the summer ( here ). The central area of his garden is a unique collection of metal containers Eric made from objects he found on his property, which has been in the family for 50+ years. They’re filled with a wide variety of succulents — cacti large and small, agaves, aloes, etc. I’ve seen many gardens, but never a...